Hornets Training Camp Day 1

Earlier today, the Delaware State Hornets football team begin their 1st day of training camp and the theme for this training camp according to head coach Kermit Blount is to develop strong team chemistry.

About 30 new players came to Hornets training camp today and they very excited to get started and ready to face the challenges that lie ahead.

Highlight from day 1 of training camp included station to station drills, 7-on-7, and special teams activities.

Coach Blount told dsuhornets.com that each practice will be very critical to everyone because they have a very tough schedule to deal with starting with the 1st game of the year vs Virgina Military Institute September 1 at home.

DSU vs UD Again in Hoops This Winter

Even though the Delaware State Men's Basketball schedule has not been release until later in August I took a stroll to the University of Delaware's sports websites (bluehens.com) and found out that DSU will play UD once again in the battle of the 1st state in Newark, Delaware on December 8.

The last time these two teams played in Newark was December 11, 2010 when the Blue Hens beat the Hornets 61-50. The was the year of the free falling Hornets at that time.

Last year here in Dover it was the 1st and only meeting between the Threatt brothers Jay and Jarvis but Jarvis' Blue Hens had the last laugh on the Hornets 58-42. Doing that game the Hornets struggled out of the game and couldn't recover and to make matters worst the Hornets played without their starter Tahj Tate due to suspension.

The hornets 1st and only win versus the Blue Hens was here at home when DSU won 75-67 thanks to Frisco Sandidge's career high of 26 points. Throughout most of the second half Delaware State went to the free throw line 37 times in order to secured the victory.

This year will be different Tahj Tate will get to play the Blue Hens for the 1st time in his career and hopefully the game will be completely different. Until then only time will on how the 2012-2013 season will be for coach Greg Jackson Sr. and his fellow Hornets.

DSU's MEAC Tournament Preview

Well, well Hornet fans here we are at the 2012 MEAC Tournament from The Joel in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Sadly this will be the final year that Winston-Salem will host the MEAC Tournament because last month the MEAC Conference announced that the tournament will be held in Norfolk, Virginia next year through 2015.

Now, on to this week, starting tonight, the Delaware State Lady Hornets basketball team will play in the 1st round game versus the same team they beat last Thursday in a buzzer-beater wire to wire victory: South Carolina State University. I can tell South Carolina State is still fuming from their lost last week and will do what ever they can get their payback.

As for the lady hornets they are entering the MEAC riding a two game winning streak and looking to go for third straight win. If the lady hornets want to move on to the quarterfinals versus Howard, they will have make very good offensive plays especially when the shot clock is running down. Limit their turnovers because they make double-digit turnovers in almost every game win or lose, bring their defensive pressure to another level without fouling, and of course rebound, rebound rebound.

On to the Hornets men's basketball team, their quarterfinal game will not be until Thursday night. The #3 seed Hornets is probability still stinging from last Monday's bizarre controversial lost at the hands of Morgan State. They wish they were they were either the #2 seed or #1 seed if it wasn't for a technical foul that was called against the fans, the Hornets would stay in the race with one game left.

However, after last Thursday's win versus South Carolina State, coach Greg Jackson Sr. notices something was wrong with this picture, the Hornets were playing lazy on defense and not rebounding the ball because the Bulldogs made offensive rebounds and scoring second chance points. That is something that coach Jackson does not want to see happen in the MEAC Tournament. DSU will play their quarerfinal versus either Coppin State or Florida A&M Thursday night. I will like to see the Hornets play Florida A&M, because Coppin State is very good this season at three point shooting. Also remember back on February 11, the Hornets were down by double digits before Marques Oliver's game winning three point play help the Hornets win at the buzzer in Baltimore.

The key plays for DSU is similar to the lady hornets, limit their turnovers, make very good offensive plays with the shot clock running down, score points in the paint, cut down on the three point shots, plays very good defense without fouling, make your free throws, and rebound, rebound rebound. I don't know why I kept saying rebound like I'm a cheerleader but its the truth.

Also one more key play for both the DSU men's and women's basketball teams: will their bench production be enough to win the tournament? There's only way to find out and it begins tonight. Good luck to the Delaware State men's and women's basketball team in the MEAC Tournament. Let the madness begin. HORNETS!!!

Winning at the Right Time; Refuse to Quit

Even though the Hornets eight game winning streak came to an end on Saturday night at the hands of Gardner-Webb, the Delaware State men's basketball team is maturing and hitting all the right notes.

After suffering back to back heartbreaking defeats at the hands of University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Bethune-Cookman at home back in January, DSU were saying to themselves enough is enough.

DSU broke a eight game losing streak by beating Florida A&M at home by 14 on January 23rd, and since then the wins kept piling up:

-defeated North Carolina Central by 6 in their only meeting of the season

-held North Carolina A&T to one field goal over the final 13 minutes to win by 13 points in front a tough crowd of The Dawg Pound

-Hornets made a big statement at home vs 1st place Norfolk State without starters Tahj Tate and Kendall Gray due to injuries by winning by 17 points and kept MEAC pre-season player of the year Kyle O'Quinn in check

-DSU made another big statement by defeating the MEAC Tournament champion Hampton in a rivalry game building momentum for their five game road trip

The road trip was full of comebacks, defense, and fantastic finishes at the buzzer:

-Down 12 points to Coppin State with 4:57 left in the 2nd half, Delaware State went on a furious rally, by going a 13-3 run including a poster dunk by Tahj Tate and a game winning three point play (layup & free throw) by Marcus Oliver to complete the comeback leaving the Golden Eagle crowd stunned

-Down 11 points to Morgan State with under 10 minutes left DSU went on a 12-2 run to cut the lead the lead to one point. Then Marcus Oliver delivers again with the game winning tip shot at the buzzer leaving Bears fans crowd stunned

-Norfolk State was en route to winning the game at home but the Hornets stay in the game throughout the 2nd half. In the final seconds, Tyshawn Bell game winning three point shot was misfired until Tate's game tying put back forced overtime. During that overtime period, DSU outscored Norfolk State 14-4 to win the game by 10 points.

Coach Greg Jackson Sr. and his coaching staff is proud of his for their maturely and their defensive pressure since January. Still the Hornets have a long way to go in the regular season and heading into the MEAC Tournament come March 6th. The Hornets are playing with passion, pride, and giving MEAC teams a fight on every given night with chemistry.

Delaware State really miss Kendall Gray due to a knee injury and hoping he will be back for the MEAC Tournament. In the meantime Delaware State needs to fix some things as they start a new winning streak, start the game strong and finish strong, make your free throws down the stretch, and rebound, rebound, rebound.

Also DSU's main guys of Jay Threatt, Casey Walker, Oliver, Tate, James Marcellus, and Tyshawn Bell were playing a lot of minutes during their winning streak. That can only mean one thing, the bench production needs to step up in a huge because if not they will be in a lot of trouble.

The Free Fall Continues for the Lady Hornets

From 2003-2009 the Delaware State Lady Hornets basketball team were the team to watch in the MEAC Conference. Their defense made their MEAC opponents look silly on offense by forcing a lot a turnovers, missing shots left and right, and even made some of the players and coaches lose focus on the task at hand. Plus they finds ways to win games on offense almost every season including winning the 2007 MEAC Tournament Championship.

That was then, ever since 2009-2010 basketball season, the lady hornets team are trying to find an identity of who they are. Injuries, lack of offense, bad defense, losing good players, and trying to function at the wrong time  have lead to some very bad losses. Everytime the lady hornets dig a big hole, they can't seem to get out of no matter how hard they try.

Make no mistake Ed Davis and his coaching staff have good players but they don't a winning attitude about how chemistry works. If a team can't step up you will end up losing games in the worst way. Speaking of the worst way the lady hornets are almost dead last in the MEAC Conference standing through February 12. The lady hornets was not won a home game since December 11th when they rallied to beat St. Francis. Even though the lady Hornets won a road game vs. North Carolina Central back on January 28th, the lady hornets has lost 12 of their 13 games. They have made bad records this season on their shooting, turnovers, allowing more opponents points.


As the free fall continues, the frustrations just keeps on growing on the entire team. Makes me wonder, have they giving up on themselves? I don't think but they need to learn the Ed Davis system because trust me if they keep playing with no energy for the rest of this year and next season, then I don't know what the lady hornets will become five to 10 years from now if they don't know how to wake up.

Sorry for the Delay

Hey Hornet fans, its me Clarence Varnado (DSU Class of 2009). As you can tell I'm in a blog funk due to my computer being on the fritz since October 2011. None the less, my computer is fixed and ready to go. I will continue to write more Hornet blogs this year than ever before as I continue to bring you Delaware State Hornets Sports. As you can tell we have two new women's sports, Golf and Lacrosse, also we a successful recruitment during National Signing Day back on Wednesday, followed by Lady Hornets bowling and Equestrian continuing to maintain success this year. Last but not least, we have a new Hornet Mascot last month, his name is Too Fly. He will bring joy and excitement to any Delaware State event on campus. That's all for me right for right now but I do have more blogs on the way all year long so fasten your seat belts we are in for great 2K12. HORNETS!!!

A Nightmarish Road Trip

This is one nightmare that the Delaware State Hornets football team would like to forget. They went from 2-0 to losing three straight games to fall to 2-3 and it could get a whole lot worse if the Hornets don't find the answers and produce a decent season.

Lets face it, the Hornets were playing against three very tough schools, two MEAC Champions (South Carolina State and Florida A&M) and a NCAA National Champion runner up (University of Delaware). I was hoping DSU will give these schools a fight, instead these three school treated DSU like pushovers and made their victories into blow out laughers.

These stats made my eyes hurt so bad, that I had to drink some Vitamin A carrot juice just to realize what just happened. The Hornets were getting outscored by their opponents 148-7 and offense were just making too many mistakes making over 10 turnovers during that grueling road trip. Also injuries to the offensive line played a key part in a Hornets offensive woes including Jasshawn Jones not rushing for 100 yards yet this season, and without Justin Wilson, the rest of the wide receivers are forced to step and make plays but short passes and slants will not help the Hornets make scoring drives.

The defense once again were on the field for a long time, not to mention leaving huge gaps for their opponents to make 1st downs, gained a chunk of yards leading them to scoring points left and right. Also there was lack of communication in the secondary that needs to be fixed and now there is a huge gap in the linebacker position as Matt Spicer is out for the season due to a knee injury.

Head Coach Kermitt Blount knows that the Hornets are battered and bruise but they have to correct the mistakes quickly because they will take on 1st place Norfolk State later today at home. I will say this, if the Hornets don't find a way to get out of a funk, score touchdowns, make the right plays, and win games then they will be in for a long season. Also the nightmare of misery and another losing season will be lurking around the corner, but for this Hornets team, its a learning tool to live on.